Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Tuning the Acidity of Pt/ CNTs Catalysts for Hydrodeoxygenation of Diphenyl Ether
Published on: August 17, 2019
Unraveling the Role of Site Isolation and Support for Semihydrogenation of Phenylacetylene
Devender Goud1,2, Arjun Cherevotan1,2, Raghu Maligal-Ganesh1,2
1New Chemistry Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India.
Abstract:
Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) composed of transition metals and post-transition metals function as superior heterogeneous catalysts in comparison to their monometallic and bimetallic alloy counterparts. Rendering IMCs in their nanomaterial iterations further enhances their efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate the role of PdIn as well-dispersed intermetallic nanoparticles (IMNPs) for the semihydrogenation of phenylacetylene selectively to styrene at ambient conditions. Higher selectivity of PdIn was explained with the help DOS calculations. We have explored the role of a few well-known silica-based supports such as SBA-15 and MCM-41, providing insight into how they affect catalysis. As an additional support we have explored previously reported JNC-1, a mesoporous carbon material obtained via a templated strategy using SBA-15. PdIn supported on SBA-15 and JNC-1 displayed the best dispersion, while also exhibiting the most catalytic activity due to the unique nature of the porous structure.
Related Concept Videos
Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the...
Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Reduction of Alkynes to cis-Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Like alkenes, alkynes can be reduced to alkanes in the presence of transition metal catalysts such as Pt, Pd, or Ni. The reaction involves two sequential syn additions of hydrogen via a cis-alkene intermediate.
Benzene to Phenol via Cumene: Hock Process
Preparation of Alkynes: Dehydrohalogenation
Alkynes can be prepared by dehydrohalogenation of vicinal or geminal dihalides in the presence of a strong base like sodium amide in liquid ammonia. The reaction proceeds with the loss of two equivalents of hydrogen halide (HX) via two successive E2 elimination reactions.

